What if the figure that haunted your nightmares as child, the myth of the man in the woods, was real?

He’ll slice your flesh. Your bones he’ll keep.

Twenty years ago, four teenagers went exploring in the local woods, trying to find to the supposed home of The Bone Keeper. Only three returned.

Now, a woman is found wandering the streets of Liverpool, horrifically injured, claiming to have fled the Bone Keeper. Investigating officer DC Louise Henderson must convince sceptical colleagues that this urban myth might be flesh and blood. But when a body is unearthed in the woodland the woman has fled from, the case takes on a much darker tone.
The disappeared have been found. And their killer is watching every move the police make.

My thoughts

Luca Veste is a crime writer to watch. The Bone Keeper is his first standalone book and a departure from his Murphy and Rossi series. Fantastic, I say. The Bone Keeper is where he truly makes his mark. This proves he is one of the best, with an ability to create a best selling horror-tastic page-turner. He scores full marks from me.

The Bone Keeper is a myth. A horror story children tell each other to scare themselves. Something lurking on the edge of our subconscious. A nightmare. The myth becomes a reality. A child goes missing from a tunnel. A woman is found on the street having been tortured by a monster. She is convinced it was the Bone Keeper. DC Louise Henderson and her colleague DS Paul Shipley are thrown headlong into the chilling case. Can they find the truth hidden beneath the urban legend?

The story follows Louise Henderson, a police detective with a few personal demons. A loner with no family. A woman whose only friend is her work partner, Shipley. A tough woman on a mission. We get to know and love her over the course of the book. Louise is one very memorable character, who rises to the challenge of the worst case in her career.

This book grips you with both horror and delight from the very first page. It is a must read for crime fans in 2018. Luca Veste has produced the most stunning devilishly dark book, mixing eerie legend with a haunting and creepy atmosphere. I love what Veste has done. If you like your crime laced with underlying horror, you need to read this. It is truly excellent. Embrace the fear of The Bone Keeper.